ESPN Men's Basketball

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- To say California vs. Louisville was a game of runs is like saying the ocean has a few waves.

The Bears opened the game with a 22-4 lead, then saw Louisville get it back to single digits late in the first half. After Cal built a 14-point edge in the second half, the Cardinals stormed back to get within four points with seven minutes left.

But Cal had the last run and the last laugh, advancing to play Duke on Sunday with a 77-62 win.

The end came for Louisville when the Cardinals were called for an intentional foul with 2:43 left after coach Rick Pitino yelled for his team to foul. Pitino argued and was slapped with a technical, giving California four free throws and the ball.

Really, though, the Bears won with their outside shooting. Every time Louisville got close, a Cal shooter would hit a big jumper. Jerome Randle, Theo Robertson and Patrick Christopher combined to make all eight of the team's 3-pointers and scored 59 points together.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, got very little from their backcourt outside of Edgar Sosa. Starting guards Jerry Smith and Reginald Delk and top reserve Preston Knowles were a combined 3-for-17 from the floor.

NEW YORK -- They finally erased the chalk here. After a day's worth of the favorites advancing at the Big East tournament, Cincinnati finally added a little underdog energy to the Garden in the nightcap.

Riding a ferocious effort on the offensive glass, the 11th-seeded Bearcats sent Louisville, the defending Big East tourney champs packing after just a night's stay.

The win doesn't change the Bearcats' NCAA hopes. They're a long way from being in. But hope keeps breathing for another day.

And the reason Cincinnati is alive is because it absolutely pounded the glass. They pulled down a ridiculous 20 offensive rebounds, extending their possessions and frustrating Louisville... not to mention torturing Rick Pitino. Fueled by the work on the boards, the Bearcats chipped away at what otherwise would have been a more commanding nine-point Cardinal halftime lead. Once the Bearcats got the edge, they outworked and outhustled Louisville on virtually every possession.

The Cardinals are still in the NCAA tournament. The win against Syracuse in the swan song at Freedom Hall guaranteed that. But the Cards -- who will at least give injured Jerry Smith time to rest with their early flight home -- had better regroup quickly if they don't want their NCAA visit to be equally brief.

NEW YORK -- Playing without Jerry Smith hasn't changed the impact of Louisville's backcourt. The senior Smith is on the bench in street clothes, nursing a hand injury that will make him day-to-day for the duration of the Cardinals' stay in New York.

No big deal. Edgar Sosa and Reginald Delk have made up for his offense. The often unpredictable Sosa has been rock solid in the first half, with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Delk, meantime, has been equally reliable. He's a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line and goes to the locker room with 13. The duo is spearheading a torrid 51-percent shooting effort for Louisville.

The only thing standing between Louisville and a blowout right now is the backboard. The Cardinals are getting smoked on the boards by Cincy. The Bearcats have 11 offensive rebounds, giving the Bearcats, who are shooting 26 percent, just just enough putbacks to hang in the game.

Lance Stephenson, the newly minted Big East rookie of the year, continues his struggles playing in his hometown. He's only 1-of-5 for four points in the half.

NEW YORK -- Louisville will be without the services of senior Jerry Smith later tonight when the Cardinals face Cincinnati. Louisville sports information director Kenny Klein said that Smith won't play as he nurses a hand injury suffered in the regular-season finale against Syracuse.

Klein said Smith will be day to day for the remainder of the season.

LOUISVILLE -- More to come soon, but here are some quick postgame thoughts on Louisville's 78-68 win over No. 1 Syracuse:

• The Cardinals closed out Freedom Hall in style, but most importantly, secured their place in the NCAA Tournament. They did it by beating Syracuse for the second time this year behind an unlikely hero, Kyle Kuric. The reserve sophomore had a career-high 22 points, all in the second half, as Louisville rallied from a five-point halftime deficit. No way could Jim Boeheim have seen that coming; in the Cardinals' win Valentine's Day win at the Carrier Dome, Kuric played only three minutes and scored no points.
• Louisville won for the sixth straight time and seems to have Boeheim's 2-3 zone figured out. This time, Rick Pitino's team jacked up 40 three-pointers, and though they hit only 12 of them, they crashed the glass and outrebounded the Orange 42-36.
• Syracuse senior Andy Rautins suffered through a miserable game, shooting just 1-for-9 and committing five turnovers.
• One point of concern for Louisville: senior starting guard Jerry Smith injured his thumb on a first-half dunk and did not play the second half. His status for the Big East tournament is unclear at this point.

More to come ...